A Cohort Scholarship Program that Reduces Inequities in STEM retention

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Published: Apr 29, 2021

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Ryan Sweeder
Michigan State University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5488-4927
Merve N Kursav
Michigan State University
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8334-3866
Sean Valles
Michigan State University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0140-6857

Abstract

Lyman Briggs College (LBC) is a small residential college within Michigan State University (MSU), devoted to preparing students for STEM careers via preparation in the biophysical sciences that is paired with the humanistic and social scientific study of science in its social contexts. This paper reports and interprets the quantitative outcomes of an ongoing NSF-sponsored S-STEM project, begun in 2009, seeking to improve STEM retention in the college via a combination of scholarships and cohort-based curricular and co-curricular activities. The program supported scholars in their second through the fourth year. In examining the over 90 participants against a comparison population (eligible students who did not participate in the program), there was no statistical change in graduation rates from MSU, though there was a statistical increase in retention in STEM majors. Moreover, the program has shown success in closing some inequitable STEM retention gaps between demographic groups with more or less social privilege (especially students with high financial need and students with low pre-college math preparation), while not closing others (for underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities).

Article Details

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Vol. 22 No. 1 (2021): Journal of STEM Education: Research and Innovation
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Author Biographies

Ryan Sweeder, Michigan State University

Ryan Sweeder is an Assistant Professor in chemistry at Michigan State University. He has a joint appointment in Lyman Briggs College and the CREATE for STEM Institute. His research is split between focuses on chemistry education research and student success at the undergraduate level.

Merve N Kursav, Michigan State University

Merve N. Kursav is a Ph.D. student in Mathematics Education at Michigan State University (MSU), serving as a research assistant for the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP), and was an instructor of record in Mathematics. She is a Fulbright Alumni and has been a fellow in the Scholarship of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning program in Lyman Briggs College at MSU. Her research focuses on students’ engagement when using collaborative STEM curriculum in diverse mathematics classrooms and establishing and promoting quantitative and qualitative methods to enhance teachers’ and students’ outcomes in the areas of mathematical engagement and achievement by using innovative tools.

Sean Valles, Michigan State University

Sean A. Valles is a philosopher of health specializing in the ethical and evidentiary complexities of how social contexts–everything from one’s local food options to the presence/absence of exposure to violent policing practices–combine to create inequitable health disparities. His work includes studying the challenges of responsibly using race and ethnicity concepts in monitoring health disparities, scrutinizing the rhetoric of the COVID-19 pandemic as an ‘unprecedented’ problem that could not be prepared for, and examining how biomedicine meshes with public health. He is author of the 2018 book, Philosophy of Population Health: Philosophy for a New Public Health Era.